Peer-reviewed article
The impact of online toxicity on the school ecosystem: an integrative review and conceptual framework.
Marshall BD, Klein LM, Jenkins M, Johnson SB ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This review examines how online toxicity affects children, adolescents, and entire school communities. The authors find that negative online behavior is linked to serious mental health problems, school absence, violence among students, and harassment of teachers and staff. The paper proposes a conceptual framework showing how online toxicity spreads through peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, and family-to-staff interactions. Current school interventions like cell phone policies address only part of the problem, and the authors identify opportunities for better approaches.
Key points
- Online toxicity is linked with serious mental health symptoms, school withdrawal and absenteeism, fighting and violence among students, and harassment of teachers, staff, and school board members
- The harmful effects impact not only students but also teachers, school staff, families, education leaders, and public confidence in education
- Current structural and policy interventions, including cell phone policies, address only part of the problem
- Online behavior affects schools through multiple pathways: peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, family-to-staff, and community-to-staff interactions
Limitations
This is a conceptual review and framework development rather than an empirical study, so it does not provide quantitative evidence of intervention effectiveness or causal evidence of outcomes. The document does not specify which countries or regions were included in the review.
Abstract
The effects of online toxicity on children and adolescents permeate nearly every part of their lives. The harmful effects of online behavior and interactions increasingly impact not just students, but also teachers, school staff, and families, local education leaders, and even public confidence in education. Online toxicity is linked with serious mental health symptoms, school withdrawal and absenteeism, fighting and violence among students, and harassment of teachers, staff, and school board members. Increasingly, schools have looked to structural and policy interventions, including cell phone policies, to reduce the effects of negative online interactions on student behavior and learning during the school day; however, these approaches address only part of the problem. In this conceptual analysis, we begin by summarizing what is known about the impact of online toxicity on schools as organizations and the individuals who interact with them. We propose a conceptual framework illustrating how online behavior affects schools (e.g., peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, family-to-staff, community-to-staff) to help explain this phenomenon. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limitations of current interventions and highlight opportunities to enhance interventions to support the health and well-being of students and school communities navigating online toxicity.